ISLAMABAD – Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday said that ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s wife Begum Kulsoom Nawaz can stay as Member of National Assembly (MNA) even without taking oath.

Responding to a letter submitted by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), ECP said that the constitution doesn’t provide any deadline to the elected members for oath taking.

As per article 65, an MNA doesn’t need to take oath to sit or participate in voting activities in the assembly, ECP stated.

Kulsoom Nawaz won NA-120 by-polls

On September 18, 2017, Kulsoom Nawaz won NA-120 by-election with 61,745 votes while PTI’s Dr Yasmin Rashid remained the runner-up with 47,099 votes after a strong contest.

A total number of 125,129 voters exercised their right to vote in the NA-120 by-polls out of which 80,944 were male and 45,916 were female voters.

Begum Kulsoom won the seat, which fell vacant due to the disqualification of her husband and former prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court (SC) in Panama Papers case.

Kulsoom Nawaz under treatment in London

Kulsoom Nawaz is undergoing Lymphoma treatment in London as her first chemotherapy went successful in Harley Street Clinic. She was shifted to London in September after diagnosed with lymph nodes cancer. She has underwent several surgeries to cure the disease.

On the other hand, Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz arrived in London to inquire about the health of Kulsoom Nawaz after getting one week exemption from the hearing of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) references against Sharif family.